Mediainfluencematrix Georgia

M A R C H 2 0 2 0 MEDIA INFLUENCE MATRIX: GEORGIA Technology, Public Sphere and Journalism Author: Giorgi Jangiani Research consultant: Ekaterine Basilaia Editor: Marius Dragomir Published by CEU's Center for Media, Data and Society (CMDS), Budapest, 2020 About CMDS About the Authors The Center for Media, Data and Society Giorgi Jangiani is a researcher at the Center for Media, (CMDS) is a research center for the study Data and Society. He holds a master's degree in of media, communication, and European Public Policy from the Central European information policy and its impact on University. His research focuses on corruption, media, society and practice. Founded in 2004 as and data protection policy reforms in Eastern the Center for Media and Communication European countries. Prior to working with CMDS, Studies, CMDS is part of Central Giorgi was a Research Fellow at Georgia's Reforms Associates (GRASS) and contributed to projects on European University’s School of Public Georgia's EU approximation policy. He also holds an Policy and serves as a focal point for an M.A. in Diplomacy from Tbilisi State University. international network of acclaimed scholars, research institutions and activists. Ekaterine Basilaia is currently a lecturer and a researcher at Tbilisi State University. She is co-author of the book “The Role and Limitations of non- Governmental Policy Advocacy in Georgia: Groups and Media in Agenda-Setting” (2016). She was a senior CMDS ADVISORY BOARD researcher in Georgia for the Horizon 2020 WOSCAP project (2016-2017), studying the EU's engagement and communication strategies in Georgia. Besides her Clara-Luz Alvarez academic background in the past years, she has co- Floriana Fossato authored the country reports on the state of the media Ellen Hume for Media Sustainability Index by International Monroe Price Research and Exchanges Board (IREX). Anya Schiffrin Stefaan G. Verhulst Marius Dragomir is the Director of the Center for Media, Data and Society. He previously worked for the Open Society Foundations (OSF) for over a decade. Since 2007, he has managed the research and policy portfolio of the Program on Independent Journalism (PIJ), formerly the Network Media Program (NMP), in London. He has also been one of the main editors for PIJ's flagship research and advocacy project, Mapping Digital Media, which covered 56 countries worldwide, and he was the main writer and editor of OSF’s Television Across Europe, a comparative study of broadcast policies in 20 European countries. Hungary, 1051 Budapest, Nador u. 9 Tel: +36 1 327 3000 / 2609 Fax: +36 1 235 6168 Cover photo: Nika Tabatadze on Unsplash E-mail: [email protected] ABOUT THE MEDIA INFLUENCE MATRIX The Media Influence Matrix Project is run collaboratively by the Media & Power Research Consortium, which consists of local as well as regional and international organizations. The consortium members are academic institutions (universities and research centers), NGOs, journalism networks and private foundations. MEDIA INFLUENCE MATRIX ADVISORY BOARD Special Advisor: Dean Starkman Media Management and Economics: Philip M. Napoli Research and methodology: Amy Brouillette Research and advocacy: Susan Abbott, Minna Aslama Civil Society & Technology: Kate Coyer Policy: Francesca Fanucci Data: Attila Batorfy, Jessie Labov CMDS TEAM Director: Marius Dragomir Editorial consultant: Tom Popper Research: Eva Bognar, Roni Dorot, Dumitrita Holdis Design and outreach: Robert Nemeth Coordinator: Mihaela Groza M E D I A I N F L U E N C E M A T R I X : G E O R G I A T E C H N O L O G Y , P U B L I C S P H E R E A N D J O U R N A L I S M TECHNOLOGY, PUBLIC SPHERE S AND JOURNALISM T TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW 5 N ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY IN MEDIA AND JOURNALISM 11 Overview and Profile of Key Players 11 E Company Profiles 11 T Internet and mobile 11 Telecommunications 12 N Technology Companies & Government 14 O Technology Companies & Journalism 15 The Rise of Misinformation 15 C Media Content Distribution 17 F O E L B A T 4 TECHNOLOGY, PUBLIC SPHERE AND JOURNALISM Mainly as a result of slow economic growth, First, the internet market is dominated by a Georgia has been struggling to embrace new small group of the globe’s technology giants technologies. During the past decade, internet whose business model is based on using local and mobile penetration have skyrocketed in content to generate funding for themselves. the country, but that has not significantly None of that revenue comes back to Georgia’s changed news consumption patterns and news media. On the contrary, the media habits. Technological innovation as well as the routinely spend money on advertising on potential of cheaper internet and massive Facebook to ensure their content gets visibility growth in mobile communications are yet to on the platform. For most of these companies, be fully utilized. Georgia is a market too small to invest. Hence, none of the world’s technology players have an As mobile surfing became more affordable, office or a local subsidiary in the country. more than half of Georgians use more than one mobile subscriber identification module (SIM) Second, policies on promoting journalism card and nearly 65% of them use the internet online are lacking. Georgian regulation does via a mobile device. The growth of the mobile not cover companies like Google and Facebook sector was driven by various regulations and authorities are reluctant to take any action (primarily, a cut of 4% in the excise tax for against them although they want Facebook and mobile services as of 2017) and increased other foreign technology companies to open competition (that led to a decrease in prices). In local offices in Georgia. All that leaves spite of all that, however, media consumption Georgian media with no other option than on mobile devices (thanks to friendly mobile paying social networks, particularly Facebook, web pages, news briefs designed for portable to be able to discover, attract and connect new devices, podcasts and applications) has not readers. increased much. The price for the creation and maintenance of a mobile application is still out Finally, the growing fake news phenomenon of reach for most newspapers. affects the trust in media, making it extremely difficult for independent journalists to Nevertheless, the internet is expected to lead to compete as, again, the large social networks are substantial changes in Georgia’s news media used as the main distribution channel for false market. Increasingly, news media outlets are content. But in that respect, at least, some moving online and improving their strategies action was taken. Facebook removed hundreds aimed at attracting followers. Moreover, unlike of pages spreading fake news from its the media market, which is extremely platforms. Many of those were connected with politicized and polarized, the information the political party in government. technology sector in Georgia is still apolitical. None of the technology firms, either internet Such initiatives, doubled by improved use of companies or telecoms, have ownership links technologies to push quality content, could be with politicians or political parties. the response, or part of it, to some of the many problems Georgian journalism is facing. Still, plenty of snags remain. 5 TECHNOLOGY, PUBLIC SPHERE AND JOURNALISM TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW New technologies have been slowly, but steadily, spreading in Georgia. In parallel, old, analog forms of communications have been constantly declining. Georgia has gradually become more mobile-focused during the past decade as fixed telephony has been losing importance. In 2018, the number of landline subscribers in Georgia decreased by 16.7% (or 119,000 subscribers) compared to the previous year, according to data for the last quarter of the year collected by the local regulator. [1] Between 2013 and 2018, the number of landline subscribers in Georgia halved to 595,000. In contrast, new forms of internet-powered communication have gained popularity. Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) connections grew from 41,000 in 2013 to some 65,000 in 2018. Landlines Fixed line telephony in Georgia, in ‘000, 2013-2018 PSTN: Public switched telephone network; CDMA: Code-division multiple access; VoIP: Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Source: Georgian National Communication Commission (GNCC) Landline telephony would have declined even further if telecom companies didn’t bundle it into larger service packages customers are lured with. For example, local telcos include landline telephony services in better-priced service packages that include internet, television and, in some cases, even mobile services. Such offers have prompted many households to maintain their landline, even if they rarely use it. This being said, during the past two decades, mobile communications have been considered one of the most profitable business sectors in Georgia. Mobile penetration in the country was a stonking 143% in 2018, which indicates that many Georgians have more than one mobile subscription. At the end of 2018, there were 5.3 million mobile subscriptions in Georgia, a country of some 3.7 million. But although mobile services have become more affordable in the country, Georgians still rely on prepaid mobile packages as postpaid subscriptions are not even present. In lieu of postpaid mobile packages, Georgian increasingly use the so-called unlimited packages, which allow them to browse or make calls at leisure and to consume without any limitations content on the internet. [1] GNCC. “საქართველოს კომუნიკაციების ეროვნული კომისიის წლიური ანგარიში” (GNCC Annual Report), available online at https://www.gncc.ge/uploads/other/3/3706.pdf (accessed on 30 May 2019). 6 TECHNOLOGY, PUBLIC SPHERE AND JOURNALISM TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW Moreover, as Georgians have been traveling without a visa to the European Union since 2017, more affordable roaming services are in high demand, which will further push up data usage.

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